What did you do to save money this week (2/4/07)?

[carissanboys]

I make my own sauce! I use POMI brand tomotoes--no added citric acid or sugar, but any tomato puree will work, or I puree my own from fresh tomotoes when I've got them. About 16 ounces of that with a couple TBSP of olive oil, garlic, onion, oregano, majoram, salt, paper, and basil to taste, stir onver medium heat for five minutes, done. I can definitely tell the taste difference with my sauce over a jar sauce.

I have a great recipe for homemade sauce too. It needs to simmer for a few hours though to really concentrate and taste yummy. But if I make it, I triple the recipe and then freeze it in individual containers.

 

[carissanboys]

Can you make the dough ahead and freeze it? We usually order pizza because we want something are don't feel like cooking, not because we're in love with pizza! I found the remedy to that is have a few frozen pizzas, some extra toppings on hand like shredded cheese, pepperoni, etc. But I would love to try your recipie, too!

I've never tried freezing it. I guess you could? You can buy frozen bread at the store that hasn't been baked so I would assume you can freeze dough. Are you thinking of freezing it all rolled out? That would definitely make it even quicker!

 

[CookieMom8]

WOW!!! GOOD for you! (I can't say I've ever gotten a deal like that.)

I'm always looking to save money... best money saver this week? Hmmmm... gotten some free stuff from this link:

http://www.dealtaker.com

First free thing came yesterday -- a fondue kit. Was a gift-with-purchase thing. FUN!! LOVE free stuff.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

We make mini pizzas with lightly toasted bagels, too.

 

[ducklite]

Just got back from Walgreens. Their prices seem very high.

I got:

2 boxes of Shredded Wheat, BOGO $3.99
1 Box Flavored Instant Oatmeal $1.99
2 Boxes of Kleenex $.89/ea

Total cost $7.89 Total savings $7.50

I passed on a couple of other sale items because frankly the regular price is lower elsewhere.

Anne

 

[vhoffman]

Cleaned out my cabinets--you know, that dark, unknown zone waaay back in the bathroom and kitchen cabinets? Its amazing what I found. Stuff I bought on sale, stocked up, then stuffed it in cabinets and drawers due to lack of space. With the stuff I found, I'll never need to shop again!

Well, ok maybe I didn't find that much stuff, but a lot of toothpaste, bar soap, cleaning supplies, hair conditioner, shampoo--it will keep us going for awhile! Now, to see what's in the garage................

 

[roadtripper]

Saved money this week by making T shirts for our upcoming trip!
Bought 100% cotton Ts in 3 packs at Walmart-- avg-- less than 3.00 per shirt x8=24.00
bought the Rainbow Rock tie dye kit at Michaels-- 40% off coupon= 12.00
Made 8 cool Mickey tie dye shirts for less than 5.00 each, and they came out GREAT!! (I will post a pic when I am feeling less tech challenged!)
Got the instructions off the DIS-- look up the spiral Mickey Tie dye thread if interested.

 

[lisaj68]

Can DISers single handedly bring down the Jet Dry company? LOL

Maybe so! And judging by the response of the free bar of chocolate are Target, we could be the cause of a poor first quarter!!!

I just got home from getting 10 free bars! The checker and the gal behind me were impressed! Just in time for Valentine's day, too!!!

I also just got back from my CVS run. Not too shabby!

$88.xx total merchandise
$10.00 off $50.
$2.00 off $10.
$2.00 off $10.
$15 mfg coupons
$21.50 ECB
$37.xx OOP

and $41.99 going back on my ECB !!

Hey?!?! That was fun!!!

Also, we ate all of our meals in or packed today, and I have meal ideas for the next week or so, thanks to another purchase at Kmart - $8.00 for a 8 lb. pork picnic roast. Does anyone know what to do with this roast? Put in crock pot with.......................????:

 

[ticktock]

Saved money this week by making T shirts for our upcoming trip!
Bought 100% cotton Ts in 3 packs at Walmart-- avg-- less than 3.00 per shirt x8=24.00
bought the Rainbow Rock tie dye kit at Michaels-- 40% off coupon= 12.00
Made 8 cool Mickey tie dye shirts for less than 5.00 each, and they came out GREAT!! (I will post a pic when I am feeling less tech challenged!)
Got the instructions off the DIS-- look up the spiral Mickey Tie dye thread if interested.

Good for you! I've been wanting to try this but it seems difficult. Glad yours came out nice.

 

[katerkat]

I know there are a few military families on this thread...do you all shop at the commissary? I'm just wondering if it's ever cheaper to shop off base?

When I'm home, I shop almost exclusively at the commissary. I'm staying with my parent for a deployment and I'm in shock at some of these prices they pay - granted, some of it's a Jersey thing, but still. I only go off base at home for chicken and products I can't find at the commissary. Plus at the commissary, they have decent military-store-only coupons convienently placed right in front of the products!

 

[ohiominnie]

Drove just a bit further to save 20cents per gallon on gas.
Cooked up spaghetti sauce in the crock pot for dinner tonight. Easy and cheap.

 

[carissanboys]

Plus at the commissary, they have decent military-store-only coupons convienently placed right in front of the products!

Isn't that the best?!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

RE freezing pizza crusts---

When I have extra time when making pizza, I'll make a second batch of pizza crusts. I let the dough rise as per whichever recipe I'm using, then bake the crusts for 1/2 the usual time. When cool, I pop an individual crust into a 2gal ziptop freezer bag (which I wash and reuse, btw).

To use, I let the par-baked crust thaw INSIDE THE SEALED BAG so that any moisture is reabsorbed by the crust. Then I just continue wherever I was in the recipe

 

[carissanboys]

RE freezing pizza crusts---

When I have extra time when making pizza, I'll make a second batch of pizza crusts. I let the dough rise as per whichever recipe I'm using, then bake the crusts for 1/2 the usual time. When cool, I pop an individual crust into a 2gal ziptop freezer bag (which I wash and reuse, btw).

To use, I let the par-baked crust thaw INSIDE THE SEALED BAG so that any moisture is reabsorbed by the crust. Then I just continue wherever I was in the recipe

Thanks for that! I'm going to give it a try. Saving both time AND money is always the best.

I just redeemed my points from my bank (USAA) that I earn just by using my debit/credit card (linked to checking account). I'll be getting a $25 gift card from Target. I could have chosen movie tickets or a restaurant, but decided to go with Target as I can actually purchase food items there.

 

[carissanboys]

What does everyone mean when they say they do the "grocery game"? Do they just mean that they shop flyers and use coupons to find the best deals?

 

[Chickysmom]

What does everyone mean when they say they do the "grocery game"? Do they just mean that they shop flyers and use coupons to find the best deals?

www.thegrocerygame.com

check out their web site, it's an actual site that helps plan your shopping.

 

[nzdisneymom]

DH was supposed to set the chicken out to finish thawing when he got home with the kids this afternoon, but he forgot to do that, so when I got home at 5:00, it was still too frozen to do anything with (and I don't like defrosting it in the microwave - just doesn't turn out right for me). So we were stuck with what to do for dinner. I checked our budget and we had $14 left for the first week of February (today being the 7th) so I told them we could get fast food as long as it was less than $14, so we ended up going to Wendy's. DH and I like that $2.99 deal they have (we get chili instead of fries, too, so that saves us 200+ calories each).

In the mail I got a $100 gift card from Target as a promotion from a thing we did recently, and I also got the Target kid catalog today with a 10% off $100 purchase, so whenever we do our next big Target run, those two things will come in handy. I'll still write down what we spend as if we'd paid cash, but having that extra $100 in my checkbook will be nice!

I went to a Build a Better Budget workshop at lunch today - some of the materials they handed out were planning sheets that I found you can download for free from www.balancepro.net - just click on Forms and look around - they are .pdf files. One page is called the Fritter Finder -- it's where you write down trips to Starbucks, drive thru Wendy's, $ for convenience store items, etc.... all the things we do that "fritter away" our cash Anyway, just thought I would pass along the reference - it's free online to get the materials.... in case anyone is looking for stuff like that.

Keep up the great work everyone. And remember, keep posting even the "small' stuff you do differently each day - it all adds up.

 

[lori1043]

I have vented on another thread about it and secretly I am okay with the decision, but I got a PIN today in the mail for a really good day-2 ad/2 kids-5 nights/6 days with PH PLUS options included at a value resort=$1371 Since we are going for a BIG 10 day trip next Feb to WDW- DH and I agreed there would only be a couple camping trips and maybe one weekend trip to see family this year- and we also passed on getting a camper that would allow us to do other things. Can't be justified and for that I am okay and thanks to the budget boards and my and DH need/want to pay our school loans so we can pay for our kids to go to college one day(so we won't be paying ours and thiers at the same time . It's has been a horrible year already, beleive it or not-but not our worst-we are just itching for a break and this came in my mail-go figure

What am I whining about anyway- how blessed am I to be able to save the money to go next year and for SUCH a great celebration

Just venting-Lori

 

[ohiominnie]

Something I forgot to add....

I LOVE the grocery game, but three stores are just too much for me to handle, especially considering one of them is 25 minutes away. For the past several weeks I haven't made it to that third store, so I'm changing my membership to only include 2 stores. Saves me $5 every 8 weeks. Woo-hoo.

Speaking of budget minded people....
Grocery Game does work on a referral system and as we ALL like to save a bit of money, if you are thinking of doing the $1 trial, please consider putting another DISers name down as a referral (the member gets 12 free weeks for every 3 people who eventually join after the trial period is over)

I'll throw my hat into the ring....consider putting ohiominnie at gmail dot com down as a referral. And if you have any questions about it or need help figuring out your lists during your trial, I'd be more than willing to PM with you or email with you about it.

Thanks!

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I use the couponmom.com site and it saves me a ton. You pick what state you're in and she gives you a list of what your store has on sale this week and matches up the coupons that were in the paper that week as well.

It's free. Check it out!